She reached her one year mark on January 28th!

Week of December 7 – 14th:   ‘Tis the season!

Monday we had our typical pday activities, then went to a member's house and played games!  After that, we visited a lady who has been investigating the church for years. We had stopped by her house last week and she told us that her husband just passed away (it was well expected so she was as not shaken up as you could be).  We went back with a member who is her friend and tried to teach the plan of salvation.

Then we went to FHE at the ward mission leader’s home.  He and his wife have FHE at their house every week with investigators/less actives.  And, they have gone to the temple like 4 times in the last 2 weeks. I think it's like a 3 hour drive from here. It makes us jealous. haha

On Tuesday we tracted for a looong time because we knew that we wouldn't be able to tract on Wednesday! We were walking around a street and there was a dog that would NOT stop barking at us. We saw the owner (a lady and her toddler) in the yard earlier so we just kind of avoided that house. That dog was barkin’ like mad. Then as we were walking back to our car, we saw the dog out front again and saw the little toddler wandering down the street...without momma in sight!  He got a goood distance away from his house and turned around a corner in the neighborhood!  My companion was like "What should we do??" because we can't pick up kids, but I was like "We need to do something!"  That kid was just wandering alone down the street! So, as we started to catch up with the kiddo, the mom came running out of her house and couldn't see baby around the corner but she could see us so we pointed her in the right direction! I was worried she'd be mad at us but she was super appreciative! Not that we did anything besides watch the kid wander. haha It was our little act of service of the day! Clearly she was very overwhelmed so we left a card and she said we could come back anytime! :)  I felt like we did something even though we kinda really didn't :) 

Wednesday was the day of all adventure!!  We had zone conference in Hattiesburg and the senior sisters picked us up and off we went! It was so good. Since it was super zone conference, it was all the missionaries in the Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Jackson zones. Aka a giant mission reunion!! It was so awesome!! We were just all talking outside (because the visiting General Authority - Elder Kopischke - wasn't there yet) and then they organized us on the stage so we could take a picture when he got there! They asked for all our heights like a week ago and had already coordinated the order. #dedication   My MTC comp and I were in the exact middle back of the sisters row because we're the 2 tallest! #score   Then Elder Kopischke didn't get there until like 25 minutes later so we had to stand in that order haha but I got to catch up with her so it was super fun! :) 

Then Elder Kopischke came! It was funny because everyone was suuuuper quiet when we took the picture and when the meeting started! BUT Elder Kopischke is kinda a jokester! He's from Germany so it was like hearing President Uchtdorf talk at you all day. So good. He started by asking us what was on the agenda for the day... That was funny because it was like "Aren't you here to tell us that?" haha But he had each of us write down a question/questions that we wanted answered and that it would be answered throughout the day! That was cool. It was cool because he didn't really say anything that was really new; all of the missionary things he talked about or even gospel things he talked about I had heard before, but it was really energizing to hear him say them. I don't know what was so different but it was GREAT. 

The biggest thing that he talked about was what he called the faith cycle. We read Alma 32:27-29 and talked about the EXPERIMENT... 

FIRST you desire something

THEN you make room for it

THEN you don't cast it out 

THEN it swells

THEN it enlarges

THEN your faith increases

It was cool because he explained it this way:  the first 3 steps are what we control, what WE can do to show God that we want it and are ready for the second 3 steps, which are what only HE can control. This was a super cool way to explain faith. I feel like it's too easy to say "Oh this thing I prayed for didn't happen so I must not have faith" when, really: What I do with my faith doesn’t control the miracle!   He told a story about how his wife had an ovarian tumor when she was pregnant with twins.   There were a lot of complications and scary things could happen. He said that, in the meantime, he bought a bigger minivan (they were kids #6 & #7!) and started remodeling the house to make it bigger for all the kids. He said that people told him he was crazy to spend so much money when it was so risky, but he said that it was his way to show God that he was ready for the miracle. He was making room! Literally! He was ready for the miracle when it came! And it came! His twin boys are in their 20s now. It was so powerful to hear! 

We've been sharing this with all of our investigators in terms of "what more can you be doing to show God that you really want this miracle that only God can give you?" And it's worked! It's been lighting a fire under some tushies for sure! We're going to keep using it :) 

Then he was like "Okay what other questions do you have?" and then he took questions! He answered literally every single one with a scripture! It was so cool. It was such a great day! I felt really energized about how to help our area get back to missionary work :) 

CHURCH SIGN:

"where the Son shines in every service." haha #clever

Love,

Sister Nash

Guess what we did this morning?
No one caught a fish (it rained a lot last night) but I did catch a crab! We baited the hooks with LIVE SHRIMP.

Ain't we cute?
We made our own pancakes at a member's house and she had cute Christmas aprons!

Just hanging out in the forest #tractinglife

We don't like being stuck in construction... even if the sign is oddly specific.. #louisiana 

USING THE BREAD MACHINE! 

SO FUN FACT. Slidell has this thing where companies/businesses can buy a pelican for $5000 as a donation to the city, I think. (?)  Anyway. then they can paint the pelican however they want! It's cool!

Week of December  28th - January 4th:  HAPPY NEW YEAR Y’ALL!

We had a baptism on New Year’s Eve!  Most of the past week was focused on that!  My Christmas Eve excitement was the baptismal interview! She was interviewed by a member of the mission presidency who lives in Hattiesburg.  He came on Christmas Eve just for her interview!

Then, that evening we spent wrapping presents and preparing for a SECRET SANTA! We had to be home at 6 pm on Christmas Eve so we made a breakfast feast for dinner and then watched Mr. Kreuger's Christmas while we wrapped and wrapped and wrapped! We filled 3 garbage bags full of presents! Then we went to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads :) 

CHRISTMAS MORNING!   We got up and opened our presents!!! That was so fun!!! I loved all the things that everyone sent me!! It was so nice :) THANK YOU!  Then we got ready and dropped off the Secret Santa stuff!  It was so fun!   The trailer park is a loop so we parked a little way down from the trailer and dropped off the stuff and then RAN to the car! Then we drove the OTHER way down the loop and then got out and sneaked up to the trailer to be sure that she got it but we heard their voices outside so we sneaked away! It was AWESOME! :) 

Then we went to the Bishop's house for breakfast! It was nice of them to invite us!

Later we had steak at a member’s house! Like the fancy kind of steak that I can't remember the name of that was DELICIOUS. SO GOOD. Then we went to the senior sisters' apartment and I got to SKYPE!!!!!! THE BEST PART OF THE DAY! :) 

Then I took a glorious Christmas day nap. Cause it was pday and I ate too much sugar and I was tired haha

NEW YEARS EVE was the baptism and it was great!

Then we played games at a member's home and it was so fun! Then we went home and went to bed. I stayed up until like 11:15 and then I was like "forget this" so I went to bed haha

We spent a lot of New Years Day weekly planning and then tracting. We decided that winter's new year’s resolution was to be more serious because it was COLD. It was soooo cold on Friday! Like everyone else's new year’s resolutions, winter’s hasn't been as strong as it was on January 1 but STILL. It's been chilly willy. Just remember humidity when you check my weather. 

SO MANY CHURCH SIGNS THIS WEEK:

-"when life gets too hard to stand, kneel"   

-"wise men still seek Jesus"

-"O come let us adore Him"

-"CHRIST IS BORN"

-"the perfect gift was placed on a tree not under it"

-"expect change when Jesus comes in"   DUH

-"this Sunday's message at 10:30.. what could be better?" 

-"just be yourself. Everybody else is taken"  

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash

All the presents we wrapped for our Secret Santa!!

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Holding a bearded dragon

Week of January 5th  – 12th:  Whaaaat? It's TRANSFERS again??  It couldn't have been 6 weeks already!!

On Monday we had a typical pday, then we went to see a member family.    The mom asked us after church if we could come sometime and teach her sister-in-law who lives with them! UM SURE! Well, we met the sister-in-law and she is so cool.   She has a 3 year old and the members have 3 kids: ages 5, 3 and 8 months.  They are all so cute and it was so fun.   We taught her the entire Restoration and she LOVED it. LOVE LOVE LOVED it. It was amazing.   She 100% readily agreed to be baptized on February 6!   She is so excited to be baptized! She kept saying how it made sense and how she felt so warm and fuzzy about everything. It was the best Restoration lesson of my entire life.   A big reason why: a member referral taught WITH the member in the member's home. MEMBERS!

On Wednesday, we had a zone training meeting in Gulfport! We were with the whole zone! We learned that our next transfer will be one week longer (because the MTC time has been lengthened), so we all got an extension on our missions!   The other new announcement is that we're now not allowed to hold pets OR children.

On Thursday we tracted a lot and saw our new investigator again! Not only did she remember her baptism date of February 6 but she told like her whole family about it!! She LOVED reading the Book of Mormon and we taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation.  She ate it up. She just kept saying how ready she was for this in her life. It was an awesome moment to teach her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She grew up with a church, but it was one of those moments where you know that you KNEW something already but then someone said it again in just that way that HIT you. She has been through a looottt and she was just crying saying "Jesus really knows how I feel??" it was so spiritual and so powerful. Her little 3 year old was like "why are you crying mommy?" and she was like "these are happy tears baby girl!" it was so cute. I feel like that was the first time that I've ever actually taught someone about Jesus Christ. I'm trying to remember someone else who hasn't just been like "oh yeah. I know Jesus" it was awesome!

On Friday we went back and taught her the rest of the plan of salvation! She's practically a member. haha we learned that her brother just got baptized in April! Woo! I already love them so stinkin much and we only met them on Monday. haha 

Saturday's excitement was STAKE CONFERENCE  and hearing about TRANSFERS!! We found out that my companion is going to white wash an area and I’m going to train a brand new sister!  Woo! Training! Then we got picked up for stake conference! There was a baked potato bar before the meeting and it was divine. I got to hug ALL of my Ocean Springs friends and it was amazing. I love being back in the same stake! 

For stake conference, Elder Hymas of the 70 came and it was sooo good!   On Sunday we had a special meeting with Elder Hymas before the other session of conference.  It was for all the missionaries and investigators and new members! It was so good! Elder Hymas had everyone stand up and super briefly share how they found the church. It was great! Our newest member told how she had a dream about the sister missionaries and then, when she went to church with a friend and saw the sisters, she recognized them and then they started to teach her! WHOAH. 

After church I NAPPED cause I be tired and then we spent a majority of the rest of the day tracting!   We were fasting as a zone to find someone to baptize on February 6 and we found more investigators and gave out more Book of Mormons in 2.5 hours than we ever have here!   This morning, when we (the missionaries from our zone waiting for our new companions) were at breakfast, a bunch of missionaries were saying how they found a lot of new investigators on Sunday while fasting and I was like "HEY WAIT US TOO!!" it was funny. haha 

Now I'm in Gulfport waiting for my brand new companion!!

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of January 12th – 18th:  Week 1?? Again??

Here it is y’all!   The end of week 1! Time is FLYING. I remember someone saying that at the beginning of your mission time drags on but, as you keep going, it just starts to FLY by! I feel like I just got to Slidell and I'm already in my second transfer here?? WHAT. So fun. 

On Tuesday we got up super early and hauled all of my last companion’s stuff to the car and drove to Gulfport as the sun rose! We sent all of the transferring missionaries off and then we PARTIED:  We went to IHOP for breakfast (yuuum) as a whole zone! At least all the missionaries in the zone who were waiting for companions! It was the best because a sister from my MTC district was waiting for a new comp too so we just hung out all day. She's the coolest. I aspire to be companions with her one day!! 

Finally, the transfer van arrived and we loaded up almost all of my new companion's stuff and hit the road for Slidell! Sadly, we left her box full of bedding that her parents sent her. She is a trooper and said "we'll get it from them later!" when the zone leaders called to tell us.

Some cool things this week:

My new companion's determination! Her tracting approach is literally "We're here to teach you about Jesus Christ" and it is awesome. It seriously works and has been great! We've taught more lessons this week than I ever have here in Slidell!!

Yesterday at church, a member came up to us and was like "I want you to meet my husband's coworker who came to church with us today." HELLO instant member referral. We talked to her and she's looking for a church to join because she just had a baby and she wants to raise her baby in the right church! Hello perfect golden investigator. We gave her a tour of the building and then set up to see her later in the afternoon.

We taught her the entire Restoration. It was a little rocky but it was good. She has a lot of questions and she ended with "I've been to a lot of churches and I'm really searching for the right church. CONVINCE ME why I should join this church." Those are like my least favorite words in all the world. She actually lives in New Orleans so we wouldn't be the ones to teach her much more anyways but it was so cool that we didn't actually DO anything to meet her! We never asked those members for a referral, we never invited her to church... it was all Heavenly Father! I love that, as I do the best I can, God will make things happen!  God knows what we need and lets things fall in our laps sometime! :) 

OK this isn't a church sign but it’s a funny saying that we've heard from SOUTHERN members:

"God made dirt and dirt don't hurt but airplanes do when they fall on you" said by a mom when her daughter ate something off the ground

and church signs!

"Noah had faith. He set sail with 2 termites!" 

"with the Lord is mercy joy and redemption"

"Jesus there is room in my heart for You"

"now hiring smiling faces. apply inside" not a church but it was cute :) 

"life is fragile. handle with prayer" 

I LOVE Y’ALL!

Love,

Sister Nash

Week of January 18th -  25th:  IT'S COLD

For southern Louisiana it's been CHILLY this week! Although it's already back to like 70 degrees today. haha

On Tuesday we had interviews! They were set up a little different than before:  We each met with President one on one and then he had us BOTH meet with him and teach him the Restoration. Yeah. No problem. Not intimidating at all. Not like you're the mission president and used to be a lawyer or anything. It was rough cause we're still learning how to teach together. But it was good. He's a nice fellow. 

Then we went on exchanges! Seriously. So much excitement at the very beginning of the transfer and the very beginning of my companion's mission! I didn't have interviews or exchanges in my first MONTH of being a missionary let alone the first week! 

On Wednesday we had the Worldwide Missionary Training Broadcast!! Did yall hear about that?   It was SO GOOD. It just made me want to be 9000 times better and reminded me of all the things that I KNOW I should be doing (like asking for referrals all the time) but don't necessarily always do. It was cool. 

A member (convert) went with us to teach our new investigator with about the Word of Wisdom.  It was the best Word of Wisdom lesson ever. We talked about prophets and then introduced the Word of Wisdom ("these are the 5 things you can't have!").  She said "I love coffee" and, without missing a beat, the member said "I loved coffee too." IT WAS SO PERFECT.   She had a super hard time giving up coffee (and still does) and we knew that was going to be an issue for our investigator. It was so entirely perfect.   The member pretty much taught the lesson and shared her personal experience with giving up coffee. It was the bessssstttt. So good. I love having members in lessons. They make all the difference. I feel like even if we said the exact same thing, a sentence has a lot more meaning coming from a member. That being said, the member never says exactly what I was going to.. they say something better that normally I can't! Like "I know what it was like giving up coffee" or "I know it's hard trying to live the gospel in the south." Members in lessons, man. It's great!

On Thursday we had to weekly plan all morning and then went out and pretty much tracted all afternoon! As we were tracting, we got a text from our district leader that there was going to be a tornado warning later in the evening. I didn't really think anything of it but my comp was kinda worried. All of our appointments cancelled and we were just out trying potentials for a while until we met this lady who told us that we had better stock up on water and get candles because the worst tornado in 30 years was going to hit us that night! I really wish she hadn't said that because then my comp reallly started freaking out! We texted a couple of people in the ward and they said that there was going to be a tornado so we should head home so we did. We were just organizing our area book and updating our map while texting ward members what to do in case something actually happened. We ended up sitting in my closet with our bike helmets and shoes on for like 2 hours.   My comp's terror was kinda making me worry although I've had a lot of tornado warnings! Annnnndddd nothing actually happened. How's that for some excitement! I heard the east coast got a lot of snow but no one we talked to since Thursday knew if the tornado actually touched down here. 

Saturday was the coldest day of our entire lives! It was also the day that we had to tract foreverrrr because of how far we were behind because of all of the excitement earlier in the week.   But it's okay. We met some cool people tracting. We were talking to this one old guy that we practically had to shout at for a while. I will admit, I didn't think it was going to go anywhere because of his advanced years but he wanted a Book of Mormon! And we have a return appointment! We're now just praying that he won't find the paper he kept talking about of things that he didn't like about the church. haha

Sunday's excitement was trying to get past all the parade traffic!  The parade traffic is MADNESS. And the parade itself probably is too. The ward is having an activity where they all get together and have a BBQ and watch a parade on a Friday night.  I might sorta REALLY want to go but I don't know if we'll be able to. It'd be fun though. :) 

We got a text that we might have zone conference on Monday, Feb 8, which would make Feb 9 pday  but, since that is Fat Tuesday, it’s probabllyyyyyy not a good idea.

Recent church signs: 

"Reclaiming our roots Sundays in January!" 

"where everyone is someone"

"look to the future not to the past Phil 3:13"

"Jesus died for my place in heaven"

LOVE Y’ALL! 

Love,

Sister Nash

KING CAKE! A member gave it to us! 

Feelin' the love whilst tracting 

Tornadoes, man.

January 28, 2016 – Sarah’s One Year Mark!

ONE YEAR

One year. 365 days. 52 weeks. 

Do you know what that means?? 

In the past year:

-I have tracted probably around 300 hours. 300 hours of knocking on a complete stranger's door!

-I have attended 52 Sundays of church greeting people, teaching lessons, playing the piano and sharing a "missionary minute" in Relief Society

-I have gone through the First 12 Weeks training manual 4 times. Once for myself as a new missionary and 3 times for other new missionaries. 

-I have taught hundreds of lessons. I don't even want to try to count how many!

-I have lived in 2 states that I had never been to before. I never would have thought I'd live in Mississippi and Louisiana! Literally never crossed my mind. 

-I have spent 8 months on the Gulf Coast in both Louisiana and Mississippi. And have eaten a lot of seafood. 

-I have been asked if I've eaten crawfish by literally everyone (member or nonmember) as soon as they realize I am not from here. Yes. I have. I did NOT suck the head though. That's everyone's second question!

-I have lived through probably about a dozen tornado warnings. Lots of helmet wearing and green skies but I don't think any of them ever touched down near where I was.

-I have spent about 5 months (consolidated) without any access to a car. Just me and my bike! 

-I have been offered more water bottles than ever before in my life. And accepted a lot of them. 

-I have a connection to the South! I don't know why... I blame Reese Witherspoon and her coolness, but I always wanted some sort of connection to the South but I knew I'd never have it. I always kinda wanted to be a little bit Southern. And now I am! 

-I have some sort of a Southern accent! I use "ma'am" and "sir" more than I ever have in my entire life! I literally don't know if I even used "ma'am" or "sir" BEFORE in my entire life. And I know y’all said I don't sound like it at Christmas, but I MUST because my new companion totally asked me "Did you have to practice your Southern accent?" and I was like "what Southern accent?" and she was like "YOUR Southern accent." haha

-I am so grateful that I am serving a mission because I am learning things I never would have otherwise. I'm learning things like how to be a good friend, how to get out of bed on time, how to share my testimony when I'm scared, how to use a map, how to tell someone that God loves them even if they don't know it and how to bike in a skirt modestly. 

But – most of all:

-I have grown a lot in my testimony of my Savior.

Love,

Sister Nash